The demise of a great boat...

Mrs. Wave and I traveled over to the new Bass Pro Shops in Foxboro
today at Patriot's Place.

Anyway, I was walking around while Mrs. Wave was purchasing her sale
goodies. Got a really close look at a Mako 26 CC and almost cried.

There wasn't a straight line on the boat. Run your hand along the
gunwale and all you felt were bumps. Look down the chine and you
could see where they filled in areas. The gel coat was awful - you
could see little swirls and obvious after the fact repairs.

Inside the boat, the same thing - look down the freeboard and there
wasn't a perfectly flat surface the entire length - you could actually
see the imperfections. Ran my hand down the side and you could feel
it. The rub rails were not correctly installed - you could see where
the screws holding the rail on were either incompletely installed or
at an angle - you could feel it. The T-Top had gaps between the
structure and the console - you could grab the top and actually shake
it indicating thin wall tubing. I looked inside the console and there
was wiring everywhere - the bundles weren't organized in any sense of
the word and generally left hanging.

It appeared endemic to the other Makos including the smaller bay boats
- all had blemished in the gel coat, straight lines seemed nonexistant
and the workmanship just gave the impression of being - well,
incomplete to be polite.

It kind of bummed me out. Compared to the Nitro bass boats that is.

Which is a whole 'nother story. Talk about cheaply built.

Anyway...

It's a great experience by the way - I really like the way the store
is set up. I'd like to spend some more time but it was really crowded
and I hate crowds. Didn't stop me from making some purchases though -
got a couple of new heavy boat rods (can't make them for that money)
and they have a great fly/do-it-yourself section.

On Nov 23, 3:23�pm, Short Wave Sportfishing <em....TakeThisOut@swsports.org>
wrote:
> Mrs. Wave and I traveled over to the new Bass Pro Shops in Foxboro
> today at Patriot's Place.
>
> Anyway, I was walking around while Mrs. Wave was purchasing her sale
> goodies. �Got a really close look at a Mako 26 CC and almost cried..
>
> There wasn't a straight line on the boat. �Run your hand along the
> gunwale and all you felt were bumps. �Look down the chine and you
> could see where they filled in areas. �The gel coat was awful - you
> could see little swirls and obvious after the fact repairs.
>
> Inside the boat, the same thing - look down the freeboard and there
> wasn't a perfectly flat surface the entire length - you could actually
> see the imperfections. �Ran my hand down the side and you could feel
> it. �The rub rails were not correctly installed - you could see where
> the screws holding the rail on were either incompletely installed or
> at an angle - you could feel it. �The T-Top had gaps between the
> structure and the console - you could grab the top and actually shake
> it indicating thin wall tubing. �I looked inside the console and there
> was wiring everywhere - the bundles weren't organized in any sense of
> the word and generally left hanging.
>
> It appeared endemic to the other Makos including the smaller bay boats
> - all had blemished in the gel coat, straight lines seemed nonexistant
> and the workmanship just gave the impression of being - well,
> incomplete to be polite.
>
> It kind of bummed me out. �Compared to the Nitro bass boats that is.
>
> Which is a whole 'nother story. �Talk about cheaply built.
>
> Anyway...
>
> It's a great experience by the way - I really like the way the store
> is set up. �I'd like to spend some more time but it was really crowded
> and I hate crowds. �Didn't stop me from making some purchases though -
> got a couple of new heavy boat rods (can't make them for that money)
> and they have a great fly/do-it-yourself section.

What this country needs is to stop assuming that everybody smart
enough to do so needs to go to college. There ought to be a first
class trade school and/or union apprenticeship program available to
people so they can learn to build and/or repair things properly. The
way the system works now, we teach the kids to look down on anybody
that doesn't have a "white collar" job, so some of the boat
manufacturers are forced to hire the dumb-as-a-post screwups, often of
dubious immigration status.

Decent plumbers and electricians can get plenty of work that will
never be sent "offshore", and a six-figure income is a realistic
possibility for a sharp, hard working individual.

Part of the problem is that some of the manufacturers seem afraid of
quality, or at least afraid of what it would do to their shares of the
market if people were asked to pay for good workmanship. And not just
boats.

One thing, though, that could be a possibilty: Isn't that a big chain
operation? Wonder if there isn't (at least unofficially) a "quick and
dirty" series slapped together to allow cheapie pricing? Or, possibly,
whether the retailer gets a screaming deal on all the reject layups?